Colin Murray, presenter of Channel 4's breakfast TV show Rise, is not leaving despite press reports, the channel has said.

The Sunday Mirror had reported that Murray, 25, who presents light-hearted news stories on the Big Breakfast replacement, was unhappy with plans to scale down his studio presence.

He is absolutely not leaving

Channel 4 spokesman

The paper also said that Murray was leaving because he wanted to have "a serious role" on the morning show.

A spokesman for the programme told BBC News Online that Murray was staying - but admitted that talks about his role had taken place.

"There have been discussions between Colin, his agent and the show - but he is absolutely not leaving," said the spokesman.

The departure would have been a blow to the programme, which has been much-criticised and drawn smaller audiences than its predecessor.

Audiences for Rise have hovered at around 200,000 since it was launched on 29 April - no more than watched its predecessor, The Big Breakfast, which was axed because of poor ratings.

Sky's Kirsty Gallacher is the sports presenter

Little fanfare was given to the launch of Rise, in which a team of presenters deliver a mixture of serious and irreverent news, and the first programme attracted fewer viewers than GMTV, BBC Breakfast, BBC Two and, at times, Channel 5.

The first Rise was watched by just 5% of all those who were watching television between 0655 and 0900 BST on Monday, ratings figures showed.

GMTV on ITV1 was watched by an average of 1.2 million - or 35%, while BBC One's Breakfast drew just under one million.

But the producers said the show was "soft launched", and the intention was not to go for the biggest audience possible on the first day.

"This is a long-term project that is not to be judged on its first day," a spokesman for the show told BBC News Online.

'Strategy'

"Rise wasn't launched like a sitcom that will be going for six weeks, whereby you have to attract as many people to it as you can at the beginning. It was deliberately soft-launched."

"There is an overall strategy to get it right and for it to appeal to the Channel 4 16-34 audience, a lot of whom are not watching breakfast television at the moment."

BBC News Online received hundreds of e-mails from viewers after the show, most of whom were negative about it.

"The first episode was truly appalling," wrote Gavin Martin.

'Classier'

But others said it had potential, and praised attempts to be different, such as in the lack of theme music.

"Hopefully, this will develop into a much classier version of the Big Breakfast, and entertain as well as educate," wrote Matt, from Coventry.

Sky Sports rugby presenter Mark Durden-Smith heads the team of seven presenters, who appear in a high-tech studio with a breakfast bar instead of sofas.

Another Sky Sports presenter, Kirsty Gallacher, presents the sport, while the team also includes MTV host Edith Bowman and former Newsround frontman Chris Rogers.

Producers have said they expect viewers to dip in and out of the show rather than watch it at length, meaning some items are repeated at least four times per show.